Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Interior has issued a warning about the danger of electronic scams.
Brigadier Mohammad Saleh Baddah Al Awadi, acting public relations director at the ministry, urged residents against sharing personal information, particularly bank details, to anyone over the phone or online to prevent it falling into the wrong hands.
Al Awadi highlighted the need for greater awareness when it comes to deceiving calls or text messages, urging those targeted to report suspicions to help catch those responsible.
"Economic prosperity and high individual incomes have encouraged some to find new advanced means to deceive people and rob them electronically," Al Awadi said. "So people need to be aware of these scams and cooperate with the police for the welfare of the society."
Cash windfall
One of the scams involves informing people they have won a large sum of money. Unsuspecting victims are told they need to pay a small fee to collect the prize, before being asked for their bank details so the cash can be transferred.
"I once got an e-mail indicating that I had won a lottery worth Dh700,000 and that I need to give some personal information like mobile number, address, in addition to banking data to wire the money," said Ahmad, a 62-year-old Egyptian scam victim.
"The fee was only Dh1,500. Unfortunately I followed the instructions, paying the fee and gave the requested information but got nothing in return."
Hana was luckier despite being hoodwinked.
"I was surfing the internet when I got a page with pictures of beautiful iPhones and iPads with a message stating that being the millionth visitor of this page, I'd won one of the two prizes pictured," she said.
"They asked me to make a choice and gave me an e-mail address to which I had to send some data they required. I was so happy and started to write the e-mail."
But when it came to providing a P.O. box number, Hana had to ask her mother, who spotted what was happening.
